SR-71--Now my Cobra feels Flaccid!

[olddog]

I do not think the SR71 dodged many missiles. At over 1 miles per second a SR71 was likely gone before anyone new it was there. At more than 15 miles up you need a fricking ICBM to reach it. By the time you can launch such a missile, the SR71 will be in another hemisphere.

Libia did not have a SAM that could climb to near outer space. No way did Libia fire on a SR71.

I don't think a SR71 would have needed a second pass to get the needed pictures.

I question that the SR71 had afterburners.

I boubt military air craft ever ask civilian radar to give them a ground speed reading, and I damn sure do not think a SR71 would have. If they did, I think thier flying days would have been over. Well maybe they could have gotten a job flying rubber dog $hit out of some third world $hit hole in a prop plane.

I do not think a SR71 at altitude makes a sonic boom. Did you ever hear a space shuttle go over head?

I'm far from an expert, and I'm sure there are some members who are.

[David Kirkham]

My BS meter is ticking...

David

[kobrabytes]

Last time I was up at the Hill Air Force Base Museum they had an SR71.

len

[lovehamr]

Originally Posted by olddog

I do not think the SR71 dodged many missiles.

Well the author called it a gentle turn and increased speed, not jinking with the fighters. Speed and altitude were its primary defensive weapons. You have to remember as well that during Operation El Dorado Canyon they were able to shoot down one of our F111s in the Gulf of Sidra and that puppy is no slouch in the speed department.

Originally Posted by olddog

At over 1 miles per second a SR71 was likely gone before anyone new it was there. At more than 15 miles up you need a fricking ICBM to reach it. By the time you can launch such a missile, the SR71 will be in another hemisphere.

Just because it was high and fast doesn't mean that it was invisible.

Originally Posted by olddog

Libia did not have a SAM that could climb to near outer space. No way did Libia fire on a SR71.

What do you call the SA2 Volchovs that also shot down a U2? Granted not as effective against the SR71 but you wouldn't want to hang around and put it to the test either. Then there was the SA5 Vega, a Mach 8 high altitude AA missile with more than enough capability to get to an SR71 if the crew wasn't alert.

Originally Posted by olddog

I don't think a SR71 would have needed a second pass to get the needed pictures.

The whole reason de'tere for an aircraft with those capabilities is so you don't have to try and get your intelligence from a satellite with its fixed flight path. If they needed shots that they didn't get and they thought they could on another pass with reasonable safety I'm sure that they would. I definitely wouldn't Monday morning QB those guys.

Originally Posted by olddog

I question that the SR71 had afterburners.

Two Pratt and Whitney J-58 axial-flow turbojets with afterburners, each producing 32,500 pounds of thrust. Shown below in action.

Originally Posted by olddog

I boubt military air craft ever ask civilian radar to give them a ground speed reading, and I damn sure do not think a SR71 would have. If they did, I think thier flying days would have been over. Well maybe they could have gotten a job flying rubber dog $hit out of some third world $hit hole in a prop plane.

I found a long time ago that, even though I consider our pilots the most professional in the world, one should never underestimate a pilot's ego.......especially a fighter pilot.

Originally Posted by olddog

I do not think a SR71 at altitude makes a sonic boom. Did you ever hear a space shuttle go over head?

Of course it makes a sonic boom! And yes so does the space shuttle when it's in the atmosphere and going faster that the speed of sound.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonic_boom

Mr. Wizard out

[SLHetal]

I guess I ought to chime in here just a little bit. From what I have read "The SR-71 remains to this day the only aircraft rated to run in full continuous afterburner." My wife's uncle is Harlon Hain, is one of the 93 trained SR-71 pilots and I believe there were a total of 32 SR-71's built for USAF operations, so it's a pretty small group of pilots and their birds. Uncle Harlon has plenty of stories and we probably talked to each other over the air waves on various occasions during the Viet Nam years, long before we knew each other or I had met my wife. I have seen a few SR-71's during operations in Korea, Japan, and Florida (testing at Eglin), whether on the ground coming out of their hangar (dripping fuel profusely) heading for departure, kicking ass with their afterburners while on takeoff for a mission, or returning to base and popping their chutes. I have also spoken to more than a few SR-71 pilots while an air traffic controller in the USAF and in the FAA at Houston Center. If an SR-71 pilot made a request we honored it with a factual response. Of course all of this was many years ago but my memory is still pretty good.
Sam

[Buzz]

I had a plastic model of this awesome jet when I was a kid only it wasn't referred to as an SR 71 Blackbird. It was equipped with air to air missiles and was called a "Lockheed YF-12A A11 Interceptor" if i recall correctly. I can't remember exactly how old I was at the time but it could have been late sixties/early seventies. I had the same problem with the long fuselage seam that the author described. The bio with the model described it as "...the fastest, highest flying jet aircraft in the world" and listed a max speed but I can't recall what it was. That model sparked a love affair with with the SR-71 that lasts to this day. I remember the feeling of disappointment when they were decommissioned.

[PatBuckley]

I attended the Beale "open house" in 1989 and was lucky enough to be slowly driving to the parking area (driving down a parallel taxiway) when the SR71 took off.....it rotated just as it got to my car and I could clearly see the flame rings coming from the engines as it went up....I was literally speechless as I have always adored this plane.

The plane then made a few low level passes - maybe a couple of hundred feet up -one was done "dirty" and one "clean" - aerodynamically speaking. I remember the difference in noise was amazing - when it flew by clean it was almost quiet.

When it landed they did not allow it to come anywhere near the spectators...the crew disembarked at the end of the runway area.

A few months later they had a decomissioning ceremony for the plane and I was again lucky enough to be able to attend - this time the plane was allowed to taxi up to the waiting crowd - who all applauded it.

[olddog]

Originally Posted by lovehamr

Of course it makes a sonic boom! And yes so does the space shuttle when it's in the atmosphere and going faster that the speed of sound.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonic_boom

Mr. Wizard out

From the link you provided:
"At very high speeds and altitudes the cone does not intersect the ground and no boom is heard. "

Yes I am sure there is a sonic boom made, but I do not believe there was a sonic boom heard on the ground.

[olddog]

Originally Posted by lovehamr

What do you call the SA2 Volchovs that also shot down a U2? Granted not as effective against the SR71 but you wouldn't want to hang around and put it to the test either. Then there was the SA5 Vega, a Mach 8 high altitude AA missile with more than enough capability to get to an SR71 if the crew wasn't alert.

A U2 compared to a SR71 is like comparing a Cobra to Pinto. Yes the Russians managed to shoot down one U2 and maybe that was a lucky shot. No SR71 was ever shot down (unless that is classified). Not even the Russians could shoot one down. During the cold war neither side put their top of the line military technology in the hands of 3rd world dictators. Again I will state I do not think Libia had anything that would have been a threat to an SR71.

Originally Posted by lovehamr

The whole reason de'tere for an aircraft with those capabilities is so you don't have to try and get your intelligence from a satellite with its fixed flight path. If they needed shots that they didn't get and they thought they could on another pass with reasonable safety I'm sure that they would. I definitely wouldn't Monday morning QB those guys.

As I understand it, the crew of a SR71 at the time of flight would have no way of knowing what the pictures were like until after they were analyzed when back on the ground. That is what I recall of what has been reported anyway. I still doubt a second pass over the minor attack on Libia would have been needed, unless they wanted some extra shots of the French embassy so they could piss on it.

I am not questioning those guys (the real SR71 pilots). I am questioning if a real SR71 pilot did write that artical, as it appeared. Anyone can write anything on the Net and sign any name they want.

signed President George W Bush

Originally Posted by lovehamr

Two Pratt and Whitney J-58 axial-flow turbojets with afterburners, each producing 32,500 pounds of thrust. Shown below in action.

I did question if the SR71 used after burners. Obviously I was wrong to question that. You have to love that picture!